Reports indicate that Alpine has informed its Formula 1 rookie Jack Doohan that he will be dropped immediately in favour of Franco Colapinto.
F1 heads to Imola in just under a fortnight’s time and it could well be that an Argentine lines up alongside Pierre Gasly in the Alpine squad.
Multiple reports point towards Alpine considering dropping Doohan ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, less than a week after the CEO of a Colapinto sponsor let slip off mic that the Argentine could be making his F1 return in Italy.
Those comments were backtracked, and led to Alpine Team Principal Oliver Oakes being met with questions at the Miami GP.
“I saw it, like everyone else,” Oakes told select media, including Motorsport Week.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of people in Argentina who’d like him in the car this Sunday.
“We’ve been pretty open as a team that that’s just noise.
“Jack needs to continue doing a good job. But it’s natural that there’s always speculation there.”
That speculation is down to rumours from the off-season circling Doohan’s future at Alpine, and Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore’s consistent admiration of Colapinto.
Colapinto was signed over from Williams to become Alpine reserve, with him, his management team and James Vowles seeing it as the best opportunity for him to secure an F1 race seat in 2025 or ‘26, after an accomplished nine-race stint alongside Alex Albon last year.
If the reports ring true, Colapinto’s chance will come sooner rather than later with The Race revealing Doohan has been informed of his brutal fate.
Why is Alpine considering cutting Doohan early?
Doohan is one of four drivers yet to score a point in F1 so far this season and here lies the problem Alpine has potentially decided is worth rectifying with a swap.
That’s a shame, considering Doohan has shown, especially over one-lap, that he has decent pace and through qualifying sessions he’s built himself up to Gasly’s level.
In Miami, Doohan out-qualified his team-mate for the first time to line up 14th at the Miami International Autodrome on Sunday, but his race ended at the first corner.
Miscalculating the midfield melee, Doohan was pinched at the apex of Turn 1 and was forced to hop over the kerb, where he bounced into the path of Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls.
A Lap 1 DNF after a strong qualifying session was the latest in a series of errors that have plagued Doohan so far in 2025.
A Lap 1 in the admittedly tricky Lap 1 conditions in Melbourne, penalties in the China Sprint and GP, plus a heavy practice shunt in Suzuka, are evidence of a driver with potential, but one that is error-prone.
Speaking exclusively to Motorsport Week, former race winner Johnny Herbert claimed race pace is where Doohan could find himself in trouble.
“He hasn’t blown away by Pierre at all,” he said. “Qualifying pace is very similar.
“Qualifying, that’s one thing. But as you know, as is in everything else, or when it’s down into the race, so the race is something that he’s got to harness all the energies, the negative energies that may be there, the positive energies that are there, and do the job in a race situation, and that will be his saviour,” he added.
“If it doesn’t happen, then it will be Colopinto, for sure. Because I think Flavio is very aware that other people probably are interested.”
Last Friday, ahead of the Miami GP, Oakes confirmed Doohan was a part of Alpine’s line-up moving forward.
“Jack is our driver along with Pierre. We’ve been pretty clear on that. We always evaluate, but yeah – today, that is the case.”
With Monday’s reports emerging, “today” appears to have been the operative word.
READ MORE – Alpine responds to renewed reports Franco Colapinto will replace Jack Doohan
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